Paying Back Potion Debt [Bell]

Critical

Critical

Well-Known Member
Inactive
Jan 30, 2014
1,326
"C'moooon... I owe her something for all the potions I've been scarfing pro-bono."

Orion was finishing up some kind of typing on the main computer console in his Ship/Home while talking to the Ship itself, represented by a robotic arm that deployed from the ceiling. It was making an indecisive circular gesture like it was still considering whatever they were talking about. The spacing of the unknown letters on the screen indicated that he was typing out a series of codes or words into a pre-set form or something, like filling in the blanks.

"And you saw her (and Delise) before. She's a good girl. Smart head on her shoulders. Not explicitly evil."

The robot arm continued to be non-committal.

"And how much harm could she be? As long as I don't show her sports statistics or her own self, she should have minimal impact even if she does act on what she sees. And I think she's intelligent enough to know what to say and do, or not say and do."

The arm drooped a little, seemingly under the weight of Orion's arguments. After a moment, as Orion finally looked up from the screen to see the reply, the arm perked back up and nodded before pointing sternly at Orion. He understood the answer clearly, somehow. The Ship had relented, but was putting responsibility on his head. The console beeped in confirmation as something in the Ship began warming up and whirring to life.

"Thanks! She'll love it! Let me just give her a call..."

Using his SAGE glove, Orion dialed up the Aqua Reginae, hoping to catch Bell at work.

"Hey, honey~ It's Orion. You know how you keep bugging me about how much I'm digging into your business or something? Well, I think I got a way to pay you back. But it's a surprise~ So come to the Ship ASAP!

Oh, and don't worry. Delise isn't here."
 
A

Apple Magpie

Well-Known Member
Inactive
May 6, 2014
291
“Ahhh, don’t call me like a time like this! These things are damn delicate, you know – oh?” From the other side of the call, Orion would hear something crashing to the ground and a few rather colourful words. “Hm. I’ll – I’ll hold you to that, you got it? This better be worth it – oh gods – “ And then the call cut off.

—-

An hour and a half later, Bell arrived at the future-man’s home still looking a little worse for wear. She’d changed, but there was still a bit of some sort of black stain in her hair and on her hands, and after she made it up the ladder she flopped down onto the floor with a tired groan, not even looking up to see where Orion was. “Alright, just – give me a minute,” she mumbled. “I’ll be right with you,” she said, fumbling in her bag probably for a potion or other.
 
Critical

Critical

Well-Known Member
Inactive
Jan 30, 2014
1,326
"Don't worry! It'll be--Hello? Hello? Bell?"

It seemed that even with a highly advanced piece of hardware that also included an omni-compatible communication device, Orion was still compelled to see if his connection was still present. His device clearly read that the call was ended, but he still stared at his glove for a moment like it was an ill-functioning cell phone. Still, he had gotten his answer, and he went about making the preparations for Bell's arrival.

Contrasted with Bell's appearance upon her arrival, Orion looked damn near presentable. Just as she stumbled into his Ship, Orion was putting the finishing touches on an outfit Bell would have never seen him in before, nor had he ever worn anything even close to it: What looked to be a formal military uniform of indeterminate nationality. Fitted to his measurements, the silver-grey uniform was pressed clean and straight. From the high, tight collar to the polished buttons down the front to his shined shoes, he hardly looked like the Orion she had seen before.

"Oh, you're he--Are you alright?"

He knelt down next to her in a hurry, holding his hand out to her. Up close, it was clear to see that he had even put some effort into combing his normally bad boy-ish hair.

"What happened? Working on something when I called?"
 
A

Apple Magpie

Well-Known Member
Inactive
May 6, 2014
291
“Yeah, yeah. Sorry for snapping at you. Shoulda put my phone on silent...” She took a little bottle form her bag and downed it, then just… lay there for a while. Finally, she grabbed at the man’s hand and pulled herself up grouchily – though her expression turned to one of surprise as she realized there were actual sleeves on them.

“Oh,” she said, raising an eyebrow, and pulled his arm closer, inspecting the quality of the cloth. He hadn’t bought this, had he? It looked like it’d been made for him. This whole uniform looked like it was perfect for him.

For a moment she wanted to make a quip about him looking good in it, but then she put down his arm and looked him over with a more sober expression. “This who you are back home?”
 
Critical

Critical

Well-Known Member
Inactive
Jan 30, 2014
1,326
Orion did not know how to react to Bell's... reaction. She had always seemed to be a witty young woman, quick with a quip and having something to say about any situation. But her silence and expression readily spoke to a lack of words, as if seeing him in his uniform had utterly drained her snark reserves. It was strange seeing Bell so inquisitive. For a moment, he thought he sympathized with the people he so often weirded-out with his rapt inquisitiveness.

It took a moment, but he had to realize that she had never seen him in his uniform before. So while it may have been mostly second nature to him, it was a total unknown to her. Which explained her curiosity and question. He gave her a smile back.

"More or less. I mean, you've met the real me, so to speak. I'm not really hiding anything from you. This is just my... professional mode."

He pushed up his right sleeve to reveal that he was wearing the SAGE glove underneath it, and type out some commands on his wrist computer.

"And how serendipitous for you to mention home! Because that's my surprise! Since I can't exactly pay you back with money for all the potions I've tried, I thought I could offer a trip to where I came from in exchange.

I just got the reactors and projectors working again and, well, I thought of you first. In the sense that I thought you would be really interested in it. Whaddya say, hon?"

He held a hand out to her as a trio of robot arms descended from the ceiling, and created a triangle with three spare SAGE gloves. The palms glowed purple and static began to fill the air.

"Up for a little trip?"
 
A

Apple Magpie

Well-Known Member
Inactive
May 6, 2014
291
“Yeah, I know. It’s just… weird.” She whistled lightly. “You look good. I could get used to this.” She brightened as his lovely glove made an appearance, and went back to her usual self as his bright and cheerful voice broke whatever mood they’d been in.

“Where you came from.” She just stared at him for a moment, and then her lips broke open in a grin. “That sounds brilliant. Heck, that’s half the reason why I took an interest in you to begin with.”

She took his hand in her own as she looked up, watching the movement of his weird-ass robot arm things with unbridled fascination. Up for a little trip? “Gods, am I ever.”
 
Critical

Critical

Well-Known Member
Inactive
Jan 30, 2014
1,326
"Well, then prepare yourself, hon."

Purple beams of light emitted from the robot hands, connecting them all and creating a triangle big enough for them to step through. The static was almost palpable, buzzing across their skin and tickling their hairs. The triangle filled-in from its purple outline, creating a shining triangular wall of light. Nothing could be seen beyond the purple haze contained with in, but Orion had no problem stepping into it as he held Bell's hand.

"Watch your step..."

He stepped carefully into the haze, his leg disappearing into it as he ducked his head slightly. Orion tugged only slightly at Bell, not forcing her to come along until she was okay with the new situation. But little by little, he disappeared into the triangle, until only the one arm holding her and his upper half were visible, still smiling.

"It doesn't hurt. You don't feel a thing."

True to his word, passing through the haze gave neither resistance nor sensation beyond the already present static.

On the other side, however, Bell was treated to a much cooler air and the loud hum of machinery at work. Both she and Orion were standing on a raised platform in a large, mostly-white room reminiscent of a testing facility. Immediately behind them was another purple triangle, the one they came out of, being projected by a large and more complex machine that resembled the offspring of a super computer and a jet turbine.

The triangle blinked out of existence as they exited, quieting the hum and bringing the appearance of several people in full scientific clean suits. They had come from a door in the wall that slid open and, looking up, must have come from the observation booth in the wall.

"Wait here for a moment, Bell."

They approached the platform and Orion descended it. Immediately they all, including him, began to speak in an incomprehensible language. Body language was universal, however, and easy to read. Some of the clean suit people were waving instruments up and down Orion as he got into ready positions as if routine, while others were frantically talking to him and pointing at Bell. Orion remained calm and tried to get them to stop pointing, and stymied their attempts to walk up to her, instruments raised.

Orion craned to look over his shoulder at her while he was scanned.

"This is going to sound insulting... (stop pushing, guys)... But I need you to demonstrate some advanced intelligence for them. Just to prove your not some dumbfounded ape person, and that you can handle what you're about to see."
 
A

Apple Magpie

Well-Known Member
Inactive
May 6, 2014
291
“Wow.” Bell huffed slightly, looking at the mysterious purple haze with what might have the first time he’d seen apprehension come onto her face. Sure, she was happy with haze and mysterious fog and poisonous bogs, but those were natural things – and for all her interest in the thing there was something about a staticky, hair-raising purple triangle made by a bunch of robot arms that made her… not want to touch. Still, that wasn’t enough to stop her, and she stepped in after Orion.

Confronted with not only Orion’s spaceship, but an entire – big ol’ room full of Orion-type machinery, the only thing Bell could think to do was gape and mutter, “Man. That is cool. Oh – there’s other people here!” She brightened, looking them over quickly. Human. To be honest, there was a little part of her that still thought Orion was some sort of shapeshifter or something, so it was good to see these other clearly human people here, though... “Yo, you didn’t tell them I was coming?”

Were they testing for foreign material or something? Disease, perhaps…

“Uh… advanced intelligence? How far in the future are these guys? They oughta know the twenty-first century isn’t stupid. Well, not completely stupid. I don’t know if I can really impress them that much.”

“Guess there is one thing I can do, though… tell them I made these things, alright? If they don’t believe that, I don’t know what I’ll do.” She took her potions from her bag and set them on the ground. “Uhh. Gotta pick something with immediately obvious effects… oh, got it.”

She put away most of her potions, leaving just one little black bottle which she picked up and shook, holding it out to the… audience, if you could call it that, and showing them the little sparks and bubbles that were forming. Then she opened the bottle and tossed it into the air, looking upwards patiently. The bottle soared almost unnaturally high, spewing some sort of white gas, as if it were lighter than air – but finally it reached its peak and began to fall again. For a moment there was nothing – then the whole thing exploded in a ball of light and heat and colour, white smoke spilling out of the center of it all.

She caught one of the sparks in her hand as it fell. It was still warm, but not hot enough to burn as it dissipated into nothing. She grinned towards Orion as everything ended. “There. How’s that? Acceptable?”
 
Critical

Critical

Well-Known Member
Inactive
Jan 30, 2014
1,326
"I DID tell them! Well, I mentioned that I was bringing someone back--er, forward--er, whatever with me."

They turned Orion around to scan his back, and he no longer had to look over his shoulder at her. Despite their continued efforts to scan and poke him, he continued to take it in stride and kept up a smile for Bell.

"But you know science guys. Always overly cautious."

He laughed when Bell showed a some disdain for Orion telling her that the clean suit scientists thought of her intelligence. It was enough for the other guys to stop and stare at him for a second, before immediately returning to scanning him and trying to get closer to Bell, muttering quietly with their hands up in a non-threatening way.

"Well... Think of it like this: When you ask people from your time about people from the 1950s, what do they usually think of them? Not exactly cavemen, but... dumb. Ignorant. That kind of thing."

Also he found it amusing that she was the one to finally just come out and say it. He was from the future. The fact was not an obscure one, but to his knowledge most people assumed he was an alien or a space man. For him, though, her revelation saved him some explanations later on, and he could right into just showing her around.

Strangely, Orion did not have to relay Bell's message to the clean suit scientists. They remained as cautious as ever while she pulled out her potions, but they seemed to hear her perfectly fine when she said that she made them. The closest one to her was already using their handheld tool to scan her potions from a distance. The others followed suit as she pulled out the last bottle.

The little fireworks did not interrupt their scanning for one moment. In fact, they turned their scanners upward to analyze the display before it dissipated. They immediately began talking among themselves and Orion.

"Um.... Alright. So that didn't super prove that you're okay, but you got their interest. Especially with the potions and that you displayed some snark earlier.

So here's the deal..."

Orion was finally able to pull himself away as the scientists regrouped and began chattering and talking energetically.

"We just need to get you through some routine scanning, and maybe some cleaning. I've already convinced them to expedite the process so we can get out of here, and I'll be with you the entire time. It's JUST a precaution against foreign disease and it won't be invasive at all, I promise."
 
A

Apple Magpie

Well-Known Member
Inactive
May 6, 2014
291
Bell scowled. “I ‘displayed snark’? You should have told me that was enough, then I wouldn’t have to waste a good firework.”

“But oh well. If they’re easily satisfied, that’s good enough for me. ”

She really wished she knew what these guys were saying. Undoubtedly it was interesting – and maybe rather insulting to her intelligence, but that wasn’t so important. Scanning didn’t sound so bad. She nodded to him. “Right, got it. Tell me if I’ve got the plague on me, I’d really like to know.”

“…And I imagine they can’t share any of their knowledge to me? Damn, I’d love an explanation of something in here. God knows I don’t know enough to act on it, anyways.”
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom